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28 Of The Most Shocking And Absolutely Horrific Moments Captured On Live TV
Article created by: Ilona Baliūnaitė
There's nothing quite like working in live television. Especially when it comes to rolling news. I've been there... It's exciting, fun, fast-paced, adrenaline-inducing, and of course, unpredictable. You're taught to expect the unexpected. And to think on your feet. Because a lot can go wrong, and often does.
Whether it's a technical blip, a guest unexpectedly dropping F-bombs during an interview, the autocue going down, or something much worse, those behind the scenes, and in front of the camera, control what the audience sees, notices, or doesn't. Some of the fails can be funny. But others can have a far-reaching and traumatic impact on viewers. That's why certain television stations have a few seconds' delay on live broadcasts. It allows the crew to take control and even cut away should things get out of hand.
Someone recently asked, "What is the most shocking thing that you have seen happen on live TV?" and there was no shortage of answers. Bored Panda has scoured through almost 3,000 to pick the most intense ones. From the sad, the disturbing, to the downright traumatic, the comments prove that anything is possible when the cameras are rolling. If you want to know a bit more about live broadcasts, you'll find that info between the images.
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#1
I’ll add a shocking thing that was good. Watching the Berlin Wall come down. Extraordinary that it came down and we were watching it live. It seemed profound that with cameras and electronics you could watch history being made as it happened.
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#2
Watching 9/11 unfold live was unreal. Burned into my memory forever.
CBus-Eagle:
9/11 - watching thousands of people die on TV was so difficult to process emotionally. I felt like I was walking around in a semi-catatonic state for about a month trying to get my brain to fully process what those people went through. Whether on a plane or in one of the buildings. And those firefighters and police that rushed into the buildings….still gives me goosebumps thinking about it.
#3
The Challenger Explosion.
Fishmike52:
7th grade for me. We all gathered in the library to watch. They just sent us back to class. Nobody talked to us about it.
Just remember kids you can be anything you want when you grow up! You can even go to space!
Just another reason genx are the way we are.
#4
Trump bragging on live TV that he had the tallest building in New York right after the twin towers fell (like within an hour or two). I was blown away someone could be that twisted.
#5
An attack on the US Capitol building, by American citizens.
fartharder:
Jan 6. I had CSPAN on because I was expecting nonsense on the floor. I sure got more than I bargained for.
#6
2011 Fukushima earthquake.
Me, my ex, and my mom were watching the 3am news on TV and they went live to the earthquake.
We watched as the tsunami rolled ashore, and it was so traumatizing watching the aerial of the wave coming in and people driving down the highway or walking not knowing how much danger was approaching.
We saw so many people die and get swept away. People trying to warn others, etc.
I never saw that footage/view after the original Livestream.
#7
The tsunami that hit December 26, 2004, the unbridled power and destruction brought tears to my eyes, watching the people walking on the sea floor amazed, ignorant of the destruction boiling over the horizon was so terrifying.
#8
I was watching the news and they were filming the start of the Rodney King riot in LA. All of a sudden they panned to an area where we see Reginald Denny being pulled from his truck and severely beaten--shocking in and of itself, yet the general idea that someone is filming someone getting beaten and NO ONE is helping was mind boggling at that time. Now stuff like that is all over the internet, but not so in 1992. It really freaked me out at the time.
#9
British comedian Tommy Cooper collapsing and dying on stage during a live broadcast.
The audience (and probably most of us at home) thought it was part of the act until they cut to a commercial.
#10
The Bay Area earthquake footage of folks driving as bridges buckled and collapsed stayed with me a long long time. They replayed those folks driving into their death over and over. That was the worst.
#11
When Danish footballer Christian Eriksen collapsed during a match, I was sitting eating my dinner and I looked up to see him on his back being given CPR by one of the physios. I genuinely thought I'd just seen someone die, but thankfully he made a full recovery and even continued his playing career. I didn't finish my dinner though.
#12
Tony Hawk landing the 900.
Dukes_Up:
I think this is the greatest example of perseverance ever caught on camera.
norm_190:
I was a kid and just finished a little league game and we all went out to eat as a team after the game. The restaurant had this on TV and we all saw it and went crazy. One of my core memories.
#17
Nodar Kumaritashvili losing control of his sled and slamming into an unpadded concrete column at 100mph during the 2010 Olympics sticks out to me just based on how many replays of it were aired because “he didn’t die on impact”, and was pronounced dead at the hospital later so networks thought it would be fine to show. I’ve long held that “he didn’t die on impact” because of Olympic optics, and really they transported a corpse to the hospital. There is just no way that guy didn’t die almost instantly.
#18
I saw a news anchor get completely trashed on television while covering a parade live. She was slur singing along with the marching bands “baggy sweatpants…boots with the furrrrr” and hitting on her co-anchor “Bill…everyday I come into work with a sign that says Bill…you’re still a hottie” She was absolutely wasted and having the time of her life.
It was the single greatest bit of programming that I’ve ever seen and *how dare they* claim it was because of cough syrup. That woman was living her best life and I’ve never forgotten it.
#19
The Bradford City football stadium fire in 1985. Pretty sure it was live as the images are seared in to my memory (if you’ll pardon the expression).
#22
In South Florida, there was a missing persons case of 2 young adults (19/20) who went out on a date, and disappeared. Had the whole community on edge, wondering what happened to them. The car was nowhere to be found, no trace of them.
They eventually found the car in a canal, and had live TV coverage of cops pulling the car out and investigating it. When they opened the back door, the chopper had a zoomed in view, and you could clearly see the girl's body in the back seat.
I've seen some stuff in my time, but that one shocked me for some reason.
#23
I remember watching the news when the remains of victims were being removed from Jeffrey Dahmer's apartment.
I was quite young and didn't really fully understand that I wasn't actually in danger. I still have nightmares about it if I'm being honest.
#24
The North Hollywood bank shootout. I was home sick from school and it was late morning so nothing on tv but soaps and price is right. Then all of the sudden local news break and I’m watching the real life version of the movie Heat. The whole thing didn’t seem real.
#25
They never shown it, but Owen Hart falling to his death. I just remember the confusion as they wouldnt show the ring and JR is commentating on what's going on and what happened. And then to pronounce his death live was heartbreaking.
#26
Zhou Guanyu's Formula 1 crash at Silverstone in 2022.
The live camera was at turn 2 pointing at turn 1 and you see the UPSIDE DOWN F1 car just careening from left to right across the screen.
I was like what the absolute hell was that!
They didn't cut to other cameras or the accident for 45min until they knew he was OK. As he flipped over the first barrier and slammed into the second.
Look it up, it's insane.
I also saw the Romain Grosjean crash in 2020 live when it burst into flames after hitting guard rail...
#27
That Kevin Ware leg injury. That was wild. Seeing his leg completely hanging on to skin and bone.
#28
Pursuit down here in Southern California and the dude domed himself live on TV with the helicopter zoomed in on him.
Sixtyninealldaychef:
Yep, was a kid when this happened. If I recall correctly, it was this incident that spawned a policy that camera crews working in helicopters have to stay zoomed out if it looks like something remotely violent might happen.
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